This application claims benefit of Japanese Application No. 2000-249920 filed in Japan on Aug. 21, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer comprising a removable battery as a power source for a printing operation, and more particularly to a printer capable of enhancing printing performance and operability and reducing a size at a low cost by interrupting or restarting the printing operation depending on the presence of a battery capacity capable of carrying out printing for one sheet.
2. Related Art Statement
In recent years, a personal computer and a video recorder have spread widely and various printers capable of recording images of these apparatuses have also been proposed and demanded increasingly. For this reason, an inexpensive printer capable of producing printed images of high quality has been desired, and furthermore, a small-sized light and portable printer has also been demanded greatly such that it can carry out printing as a mobile printer.
With such a demand, recently, there have been proposed various printers capable of attaching and removing a memory card storing data to be printed such as image information and of printing the image information stored in the memory card. In particular, a printer capable of writing, into the memory card, print control information about image data to be printed, that is, print control information referred to as so-called DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) and of carrying out print-out based on the print control information automatically prints images (frames) every predetermined sheets based on the print control information. Therefore, it is not necessary to constrain an operator for a long period of time. Moreover, a PC for controlling print directing operation is not required for a system. Therefore, this printer is very effective for an enhancement in the performance of an apparatus and a reduction in the size of the apparatus and will be expected in the future.
In a printer comprising a battery which can be provided in a body or attached and removed to and from the body as power supplying means required for the printing operation, there is a possibility that the printing operation might be interrupted with a decrease in a battery capacity. In such a case, the printing operation is required again after the exchange or charging of the battery. As a result, a time required for the printing operation is wasted.
In consideration of such drawbacks of the conventional art, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-250190 has described an image processing system.
In the image processing system according to this proposal, the following operation is carried out in order to save the time required for the printing. More specifically, the capacity of a battery of a digital camera to be a power is first checked when the printing is executed in an ink jet printer. If it is decided that the battery capacity is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value, the printing operation is interrupted and interruption position data on the printer side are retained. Then, when the printing is restarted within for a predetermined period by exchanging or charging the battery, the interruption position data are transmitted from the printer to the digital camera so that a head is driven from a save position to an interruption position and the printing is thus restarted.
In the image processing system described in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-250190, however, it is decided only whether the battery capacity is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value. Therefore, the capacity becomes insufficient in the middle of the printing. In this case, a position where the printing is restarted through the exchange or charging of the battery is a position where the printing is interrupted. Therefore, if the position of the head is not reliably controlled, the print position such as a character position is shifted. As a result, there is a possibility that printing performance might be adversely affected. To the contrary, it is necessary to provide preventing means such as an electronic circuit part capable of preventing the shift in a print position. Therefore, there has been a problem in that the cost is increased and the size of the apparatus is increased. Moreover, there has been a problem in that a recording paper which is being printed should be maintained to be attached to the printer during the exchange or charging of the battery, resulting in a deterioration in operability.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer capable of interrupting or restarting a printing operation depending on the presence of a battery capacity for one-sheet printing, thereby enhancing printing performance and operability and reducing a size at a low cost.
In brief, the present invention which is a printer capable of printing image information picked-up and stored through an electronic image pick-up device provides
a battery for supplying a power to each function;
battery check means for detecting a battery capacity before a printing operation is started and for deciding whether at least one sheet can be printed or not;
storing means for storing a frame number at which the printing operation is interrupted and the number of non-prints corresponding thereto if it is decided that one sheet cannot be printed due to an insufficient capacity; and
print control means for exchanging the battery with a battery to at least clear check through the battery check means or charging the battery to at least clear the check through the battery check means, and then restarting the printing operation from the number of non-prints corresponding to the interrupted frame number.
These object(s) and advantages of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed explanation.